News & blog

You might have seen our scheme featured alongside some of our clients in ‘The Ultimate Guide To Insulation’ in The Sunday Times on the 15th of January, and also available online. Thank you to everyone who participated in the piece, including our

The National Retrofit Hub launched at the Building Centre in central London on 1st March, is a response from industry to the growing need to make building stock greener and more energy efficient. The initiative is backed by over 40 organisations including

We’re delighted to announce Natasha Ginks from our team has been shortlisted for Retrofit Coordinator of the Year 2023. The Retrofit Academy Awards were created to recognise excellence in retrofitting across the market, from Retrofit Coordinators to

Under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, your household can apply for a voucher to help you switch to a heat pump. However, recent research indicates a lower-than-expected uptake for the scheme so far. The government aims to give out 30,000 vouchers annually for 3

Gas and electricity bills of £2,000-£3,000 a year have motivated many to make their homes more energy efficient without having to deep retrofit. In April, the UK government will unveil Eco+, a £1bn scheme to help hundreds of thousands of homes, by

A study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine published in The Lancet Planetary Health suggests that net zero policies would reduce mortality by 2050, resulting in 2 million people in England and Wales living additional years. Retrofitting

Green Home Systems has successfully delivered a £1 million energy efficiency trial with OVO Energy to tackle fuel poverty and climate change. The scheme saw the installation of a suite of energy efficiency measures in 19 fuel-poor households in

FTSE 250-listed Redrow has committed to installing air source heat pumps in every new development from this month as it ditches traditional gas boilers. bills, support green jobs and deliver on the UK’s net zero targets, according to a new report

A large family home in North Oxford has undergone an eco-retrofit to cut carbon emissions and make the home as energy efficient as possible. Cosy Homes Oxfordshire recently completed work on retrofitting a large Victorian semi-detached property in North

The government should do more to implement policies that will support the financing and roll-out of energy efficiency retrofits in UK homes in order to reduce energy bills, support green jobs and deliver on the UK’s net zero targets, according to a new

Blenheim Estate has launched a local energy impact scheme for its tenants and the wider Oxfordshire community to help households keep track of their energy use and reduce their collective energy consumption. The scheme encourages local households to install

Octopus Energy and Lloyds Banking Group have announced a pilot scheme to bring a new heat pump offer to UK households to help cut bills and decarbonise heating. Under the scheme, Halifax mortgage customers can get a heat pump installed for as little as

Residents in the Ogwen Valley in Gwynedd are cutting down on their energy bills by up to 25% through a local hydro-power scheme. Since 2016, people from Bethesda joined an energy club called Energy Local, which harnesses the power of clean and green energy.

Eleanor and Chris are wrapping their 1930s house in insulation to make it warmer, greener and cheaper to run. In this post, we’ll tell you more about Eleanor and Chris’s motivations and experience for having a home retrofit including the measures

The Builders Merchants Federation has called on Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to support a national retrofit strategy that would make 500,000 new jobs across the UK. The call was made during the BMF’s Annual Parliamentary Reception at the House of Commons.

Research by boiler purchasing company BOXT examined EPC gradings for houses across the country, based on data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Data showed that the most energy-efficient homes could be found in Tower Hamlets in

New research reveals retrofit could boost the sale value of your home by an average of £10,000, and the added value could be even higher for individual properties - depending on the measures and

New research reveals retrofit could boost the sale value of your home by an average of £10,000, and the added value could be even higher for individual properties - depending on the measures and

Over 50 neighbours visited an Oxford resident to learn more about external wall insulation (EWI). The resident opened his home during Oxford Open Doors week and invited people to come to see and find out about the insulation in his house. Tweet: Who knew

Insulating homes in Britain and installing heat pumps could benefit the economy by £7bn annually and produce 140,000 new jobs by 2030, a new study has found. But the assimilation of these energy-saving measures depends heavily on government policy, according

New research reveals retrofit could boost the sale value of your home by an average of £10,000, and the added value could be even higher for individual properties - depending on the measures and

With energy bills rising, we’re going to look at whether getting a solar PV array could save you money, or even make you money, while also generating clean and green electricity for your

Environmental charity Hubbub has announced a new partnerships with the solutions arm of energy supplier OVO to find a street of households in Glasgow and help them reduce energy bills through installations and behaviour change methods. “We’re really keen

In a new paper published in the journal Communications Engineering,  researchers from the University of Glasgow outline how their flexible heat pump technology provides an elegant and low-cost solution. The team led by Professor Zhibin Yu, have

New research reveals retrofit could boost the sale value of your home by an average of £10,000, and the added value could be even higher for individual properties - depending on the measures and

Fuel-poor homes face taking £250 hit due to poor

'Shocking gap in policy for better-insulated homes' - latest CCC Progress

Householders will be opening their doors across Oxford city to welcome neighbours and share their retrofits during Energy Saving Homes week – culminating in an event at Oxford Town Hall. Energy Saving Homes will run from 18 to 29 June 2022 and there

Like many householders in the UK, you may be looking into a heat pump as a new method to heat your home, but do you have enough space for one? Most heat pumps (ground source, air source, or water source) used for home heating will be between 4 kW and 15 kW in

Work is underway to turn 77 council homes in Radford into green and energy efficient properties. 28 bungalows and 49 council houses on five streets are benefitting from development works that will increase energy efficiency and reduce heating and energy costs

A new report published by E3G calls for the government to take action on energy efficiency to save the taxpayer hundreds of billions of pounds through energy saving measures like insulation and clean electric heat. With estimates that fossil fuel prices will

Cosy Homes Oxfordshire is delighted to be sponsoring the Clean and Green Award for building traders in Oxfordshire as part of JACK FM’s Brick Awards. Nominees can join us for a glitzy ceremony at the Bodleian Library on 7 October 2022. We’ll be

Like many householders in the UK, you may be looking into a heat pump as a new method to heat your home, but how loud is a heat pump compared to your current heating system? Read on to find out more. Many residents ask us about the sound level of a heat pump,

In a recent YouGov survey, carried out by TrustMark, 60% of UK homeowners did not know what the term ‘retrofit’ means. However, 53% of all homeowners surveyed were interested to know more about retrofit and say they would welcome “an

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) has announced a new project alongside BEIS to “modernise home energy rating scheme in time for Future Homes Standard”. As part of a 3-year undertaking, BRE will develop a new version of the Standard Assessment

On 1 April 2022, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) came into effect providing £450 million worth of government grants to help homeowners in England and Wales upgrade to low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps and biomass boilers. The application and

Buying a cost-efficient and low carbon home with a heat pump, or another form of low-carbon technology, is becoming more important to prospective homebuyers. That’s according to new research conducted by the estate agent, Savills. The analysis shows

An assessment has found that boosting the energy efficiency of six million homes between 2009 to 2019 will save them nearly £200 per year from April 2022. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) assessment found six million homes had been upgraded to

According to a new survey by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) almost half of all ‘heat pump ready homes’ are interested in installing a heat pump. That is equivalent to around seven million homes. The poll of 2,000 people also

The Chancellor has announced VAT for solar panels, heat pumps, roof insulation will be reduced from 5% to zero for five years. Chancellor Rishi Sunak pledged to end VAT rates for energy saving materials in the latest Spring Statement delivered to parliament,

Since 2008, it has been compulsory for landlords to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of ‘E’ for a property they lease. EPCs tell prospective tenants and buyers how energy efficient a property is on a scale of A to G, with A

A recent review of 2021 figures, collated by Carbon Brief, show heat pump sales growing to double-digits in countries such as Austria and China, but globally remains short of net-zero targets to embrace the low-carbon heating technology and limit global

Earlier this month, architects and campaigners led a march on the Houses of Parliament demanding the Government take action on energy efficiency and low carbon heating in homes. A coalition of 25 organisations led by the Architects Climate Action Network

Figures collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show 56% of homes in South Oxfordshire had an EPC rating of Band D or lower in 2020-21. Despite the pressure of an energy crisis, many homes in the region are losing heat through their fabric

The UK must do more to insulate the country’s draughty homes, says Britain’s climate change chief. Government policy on insulation is “very poor” and better policy is the solution to the energy crisis, says Chris Stark, head of the

As the installation of heat pumps increases in the UK, we are often asked what it’s really like living with a heat pump, as opposed to a gas boiler, or other forms of heating.  Tim is the project manager at Cosy Homes Oxfordshire, and with his wife,

Households are set to face a large increase in energy bills from April after the regulator lifted the cap on default tariffs to £1,971. Due to a quadrupling in energy prices since last year, Ofgem, the energy regulator, has lifted the maximum rate that

An Energy Systems Catapult project working across the UK with funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has found there is no property type or architectural era that is unsuitable for a heat

The Midlands Energy Hub has coordinated a bid to secure more than £82m of Government funding through the Sustainable Warmth

Residents looking to retrofit their homes can benefit from reduced bills when their homes become more energy efficient, however, price increases can influence upfront costs and put a strain on personal finances.

We recently completed an environmental retrofit for Lis and Sarah in a beautiful terrace home in East Oxford. Motivated by the need to reduce carbon emissions, they wanted to make their home environmentally friendly and were delighted to find their home much

From the start of the new year, there will only be three months remaining to apply for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), soon to be replaced by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) in March 2022. For some homeowners, it may be in their interest to take part in

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has published the new ‘Build Upon’ framework designed to help local authorities reach net zero targets through retrofit and renovation schemes. The document sets out guidance for improving energy efficiency,

Sadiq Khan has committed £51m as part of a “retrofit revolution” to improve the energy performance of homes in the city. The Mayor has secured a record £40.2m in Sustainable Warmth funding from the government to upgrade 3,200 fuel poor homes from Spring

The dust has settled post-COP26 and the response has been mixed, although there have been some positive announcements – caveats included. Broadly, most recognise much more needs to be done, acknowledging that the scale of commitments will not go

Peter and Maggie investigated getting a retrofit as they want to protect the

Research released by the Labour Party claims that building greener homes with energy efficiency measures now, could save families more than £400 a year in energy bills in the future. They say that building greener homes with energy efficiency measures could

MPs expressed concerns last week that councils are without crucial funding to improve housing to meet targets for net-zero by 2050. “To reach net zero, it’s crucial that insulation is improved in existing homes and that householders are offered viable

The long-awaited Heat and Buildings Strategy was just published to a good deal of media coverage, mainly focusing on the boiler replacement grants of £5,000 coming into play next year.  This is welcome news as it will undoubtedly remove a barrier for

Last night (18 October) the government announced the key elements that will feature in its long-awaited Heat and Buildings Strategy.  The key elements of the strategy are:  Plans to drive down the cost of low carbon heating technologies, such as

Local authorities in London have agreed a plan to achieve net zero by retrofitting 3.8 million homes in the capital. The cost of achieving this will be £98 billion and is though to support 200,000

A study by Halifax bank has revealed that improving the energy efficiency of your home could increase its value by as much as £40k. It was found that environmentally focused buyers were willing to pay more for a home that had the highest Energy Performance

In August the government announced that social housing in England will benefit from becoming warmer, greener and cheaper to run. Local authorities will have the chance to bid for government funding to make improvements to the social houses.  The release

“Cosy Homes Oxfordshire allowed me to receive a £5,000 VAT refund from my home retrofit work that I hadn’t expected to ever see again – thank you so much!” said Trish Lunel, one of our early clients. Rules on value-added tax (VAT) – the

Anne and Richard are active members of Abingdon Carbon Cutters, a low carbon community group with a strong interest in retrofitting, which became a Community Advocate Group for Cosy Homes Oxfordshire in 2020. The couple decided to use the services of Cosy

The Guardian featured the People Powered Retrofit programme by Carbon Coop, including an interview with Boris Afinogenov, who retrained as a retrofit installer with Carbon Coop after leaving his job in sales. The article also highlights their community shares

This week Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said that he is in talks with the chancellor to bring back an ‘equivalent’ scheme to the Green Homes Grant – which was scrapped in March – to encourage homeowners to decarbonise their

We recently completed work on retrofitting a semi-detached home in Didcot, Oxfordshire, including replacing a fossil fuel boiler with an Air Source Heat Pump to improve comfort and reduce carbon emissions. In this post we’ll give a summary of the work, but

The UK has an abundance of historic buildings, including listed buildings which have limitations on how they can be changed. These older buildings inevitably have energy loss issues – including issues like damp and mould which also cause health and

Triodos Bank interviewed North Camden Housing Cooperative about their work to decarbonise their housing stock, including Carlton Chapel House in Kentish Town which has been recently retrofitted to cut carbon

The BBC have reported on a home in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, which has been ‘future-proofed’ by its owners to minimise the home’s environmental impact and to reduce the threat of climate damage in the future from events such as

The UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has said that an automatic switching system for energy tariffs will be trialled in 2024 – wherein homeowners will be automatically moved to a cheaper deal for energy. The scheme is

Energy performance certificates (EPCs) tell prospective tenants and buyers how energy efficient a property is on a scale of A to G, with A being most efficient and G, least. The Conversation has released an article based on a new piece of research, arguing

A new PwC report released ahead of UN World Environment Day found that from energy bill savings alone it can take, on average, at least 10 years to cover the upfront costs of making energy efficiency improvements to UK homes.  A survey of 1,000 adults found

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has reported that the national shortage of construction materials is getting worse. With the UK opening up after a series of lockdowns, construction activity is at the highest rate in the past seven years. But, this

SuperHomes is a network of homeowners who have refurbished their homes (usually old, hard to treat homes) to the highest standard of energy efficiency – meaning that little energy is being wasted in the home, and there is no reliance on fossil fuels for

Researchers at Nottingham University have released the results from their recent research into the best approaches to improving the energy efficiency of older homes. Professor Mark Gillott and his team constructed a replica 1930s semi-detached house on campus

The Green Homes Grant scheme for homeowners was scrapped in March of this year. At this time the Government allocated an additional £300 million of funding to the Local Authority Delivery side of the Green Homes Grant scheme, wherein households could access

Our homes have a huge role to play in the climate emergency. To address the climate crisis and meet our carbon reduction targets in the UK, we need to retrofit millions of homes, reducing the amount of wasted energy which is causing excess carbon emissions.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) have advised that no new fossil fuel boilers should be sold from 2025 onwards if the world is to achieve net-zero emissions by the middle of this century. This is part of their newly released report Net Zero by 2050,

100 social housing properties in the north east of Scotland will be upgraded to improve energy efficiency, using a fabric first approach to retrofit. This will be at no cost to tenants or landlords, due to £2.2 million of funding from the government through

The Government’s response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s report on Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes was published today. There is little response in the report itself, with the focus instead on the imminent Heat and Buildings Strategy, where

When we talk about home retrofit and our Cosy Homes Oxfordshire service, we often use the term ‘energy efficiency’. But what is energy efficiency, why is it important, and how does it relate to our homes? That’s what we’ll cover in this post. Defining

Our whole house retrofit service has been operational for two years now. These two years (2019-21) have been our ‘pilot phase’, during which we’ve received grant-funding from the UK Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy

This week the Times covered the story of an eco retrofit of a rural home in St Catherine’s Valley near Bath – including insulation and external

A cross-party group of MPs making up the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has called for the Green Homes Grant to be replaced with a new and improved multi-year energy efficiency scheme in the upcoming Spending Review, in a letter to the Business

The April release of data from the Government on the Green Homes Grant shows that applications were increasing in the months before the scheme was scrapped, with a record number of applications made in March 2021. This comes after the Government blamed the

Our whole house retrofit service has been operational for two years now. These two years (2019-21) have been our ‘pilot phase’, during which we’ve received grant-funding from the UK Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy

How many green jobs could be created in your constituency? This new tool from the Green New Deal team can tell you, and help you lobby your local MP to put them in place. Green New Deal are highlighting the jobs lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, and calling

The UK government is to set in law the world’s most ambitious climate change target, cutting emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. This is in line with the most recent recommendation from the Climate Change Committee, and will be part of the

This week in Building News Sam Stacey, Challenge Director at Transforming Construction, UKRI, argued that we can take learnings from the way that Thomas Crapper’s valve-and-siphon design was implemented in British homes across the country in the early 20th

Five major housing associations in the UK have signed a partnership to improve the energy efficiency of homes in their regions, totalling over 300,000 homes. The Greener Futures Partnership (GFP) is made up of Abri, Anchor Hanover, Home Group, Hyde and

The pilot phase of Cosy Homes Oxfordshire (2019-21) is just the beginning of our journey to create a robust business model for delivering home retrofit that works for both homeowners and contractors - but we’re proud of how far we’ve come and what we’ve

Hundreds of thousands of new job roles are needed if we are to achieve a clean energy transition and meet net zero targets in the UK. Dina Potter of the National Grid believes that investing in young people is key to this, and that we now need to ensure that

Ashden is calling for a revolution in green skills training, following the scrapping of the Green Homes Grant scheme in March 2021. If we are to retrofit millions of homes and stick to our carbon targets, the UK must drastically scale

Cosy Homes Oxfordshire client, Andy Pedley, shares his experience so far working with us to make improvements to his home in Kidlington. We are all very aware, from huge publicity, that there is a climate emergency – carbon dioxide levels are increasing

The Green Homes Grant is now closed and longer taking applications, as of 31 March 2021. Any applications already submitted will still be progressed. The Green Homes Grant was a scheme offering vouchers of up to £5,000 (£10,000 for low income households)

MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) certifies low-carbon products and installations used to produce electricity and heat from renewable sources. They support the growth of small scale renewables in the UK – such as solar rooftop panels on homes

Today the Environmental Audit Committee released their latest report: Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes. The report warns that the UK Government is currently failing to grasp the enormous challenge of decarbonising the UK’s housing stock, which accounts

New labelling on energy efficiency for household appliances (such as fridges, washing machines, freezers etc) is being phased in. This change is because energy labelling was originally brought in over 25 years ago in the UK, and appliances have become much

The government has released updated data on the release of Green Homes Grant vouchers, covering the period from start of the scheme (30 September 2020) to the end of February 2021. The data shows that up to February 2021: 82,800 households had applied for a

Home retrofit and energy efficiency improvements can transform your cold, draughty house into an energy efficient, Cosy Home - here's

The government has released their analysis of insights into how aware landlords and tenants are of existing Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for rental properties in the UK, as well as how well landlords are complying with regulations. A summary of

As part of the UK's government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, funding has been won by 429 energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation projects for public sector buildings, valued at a total of £932 million.

A microwave-powered boiler has been developed by company Heat Wayv, with the inventors of the boiler believing it could be a straightforward replacement to gas boilers, with zero carbon

Recently a National Retrofit Strategy has been published as a recommendation for government policy, backed by the Construction Leadership Council. RetrofitWorks has backed this National Retrofit Strategy, with a statement from Russell Smith, RetrofitWorks

The government have released statistics on the use of Green Homes Grant vouchers so far. The headlines are that 100,200 homeowners have made applications to use the vouchers and of those only 21,000 have had a voucher issues. There have been a total of 2,777

When it comes to home retrofit there is no ‘one-size fits all’ solution, as the age, style, past improvements and upkeep of a house all come into play.  In this series of blogs we talk to owners of different types of home and explore some of the

When you buy a new build home you probably expect it to be at the height of energy efficiency. But it turns out that isn’t the case. Homes that are being finished today will have to be retrofitted with energy efficiency measures and low-carbon

When the government launched their Green Homes Grant scheme they had a target of retrofitting 600,000 homes in the UK through the scheme. So far, around 20,000 vouchers have been issues since the scheme launched in autumn 2020. At this rate, it will take 10

BEIS commissioned 6 demonstration projects to test different approaches for increasing the rates of energy efficiency improvements amongst able-to-pay owner-occupiers as part of the Local Supply Chain Demonstrators scheme – including our partnership

A survey of members of the Heat Pump Association (HPA) suggests that manufacturers have nearly doubled their orders for heat pumps in 2021, ready to meet growing consumer demand. “The near doubling of the heat pump market this year would be a substantial

The Energy Savings Trust recently conducted a survey with UK homeowners, finding that 96% of homeowners are concerned about energy efficiency in the

In March 2021 we’re hosting a Low Carbon Homes online event for Oxfordshire, focused on the key barrier for increasing the uptake of home retrofit – the supply chain. The event will run over three mornings, and sessions will include both speaker

Home retrofit and energy efficiency improvements can transform your cold, draughty house into an energy efficient, Cosy Home - here's

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is a UK government incentive scheme which offers homeowners payment for installing systems which generate renewable energy to heat the home – including heat pumps and biomass boilers. The Domestic Renewable Heat

The UK has one of the oldest stocks of housing in Europe, dating back to eras before energy efficiency in design was encouraged or enforced. This leads to millions of people living in houses which are costing us money, our health, and our planet. But, there

I news reports that complex paperwork and long delays mean householders are losing faith in the Green Homes Grant energy efficiency scheme, sharing the experience of one homeowner who was keen to use the scheme for loft

A team of researchers at Nottingham Trent University has concluded that people working from home in the UK can expect their energy bills to increase by up to £45 per month. Their research also demonstrates the gap between energy efficient homes and those

The National Register of Tradeswomen is a not-for-profit project set up to ensure that vulnerable householders who would feel safer working with tradeswomen are easily able to find them. “Women are scared to allow tradesmen into their home, not only out of

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

The UK government has released it’s Energy White Paper, expanding on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recently announced Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution and sets out the steps needed to cut emissions from industry, transport and

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

We recently completed work on retrofitting an end-of-terrace family home in east Oxford, helping ensure that every room in the home was comfortable, and cutting carbon emissions for the family. In this post, we’ll give a summary of the work, but you can

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

Today Carbon Brief published an in-depth article and Q&A on the role of hydrogen in the energy system with several energy experts, including Cosy Homes Oxfordshire client Dr Jan

Today the UK Government announced the local authorities whose bids for funding to deliver the Green Homes Grant have been successful. This is regarding the £500 million of funding which was announced in August 2020 as part of the wider Green Homes Grant

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

Oxford City Council has released a statement supporting the Prime Minister’s 10 point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, and outlines what it means for Oxford. This includes energy and homes, with plans to: install heat pumps in 60 properties in

The UK government has announced a year’s extension to the existing Green Homes Grant scheme, meaning that homeowners across England will have until the end of March 2022 to have energy efficiency upgrades to their homes completed through the Green Homes

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

In this series of retrofit measures blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of your home.

There’s huge opportunity in retrofit for the building and construction industry – here’s why The UK government has set a target committing to become a net zero carbon emissions economy by 2050, as recommended by the Committee on Climate

In this series of ‘understanding retrofit measures’ blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – reducing energy usage to cut energy bills and carbon emissions, and improve

Cosy Homes Oxfordshire is a one-stop home retrofit service connecting homeowners with skilled building professionals to deliver high quality retrofit work, under one seamless programme.  We work with local (or willing to travel) building professionals to

Research has shown that taking a whole house approach is one of the key factors in ensuring that home retrofit is as effective as possible at reducing the carbon footprint of a property. Whole house retrofit means that we are aiming to take a property to near

In this series of ‘understanding retrofit’ blogs, we’ll be explaining different retrofit measures which can improve the energy efficiency of homes – how they work, what types of homes they will be right for, what installation looks

The Royal Institute of British Architects today released a new report titled ‘Greener Homes – decarbonising the housing stock‘. The report recommends the need for a national strategy on retrofit, including tax incentives for homeowners who make

We recently completed work on retrofitting a cottage in Hook Norton, helping the residents come off fossil fuels for their heating. In this post we’ll give a summary of the work, but you can also download the full case study as a PDF. About the home

Catherine Hayward lives with her family in a 16th century Grade II listed thatched cottage in the picturesque village of Hook Norton in North Oxfordshire. They also own a barn on the same property, also Grade II listed, which they now use as recreational

The Nicholsons and their two boys live in a 1960s end of terrace house in a small development in Oxford. Their home was dark and super cold and they found themselves having to huddle in the tiny kitchen most of the time as that was the warmest room in the

Tina & Richard and their children live in a semi-detached home in a typical suburb in Oxford. A few years ago they underwent a whole house eco retrofit to reduce their energy use and tackle extreme damp and mould in their home. They were initially

A coalition of 70 ‘green groups’ from across the UK is demanding that the Green Homes Grant be extended to ensure that every home across the UK can be made energy efficient and cosy with support and funding from the

A guide to insulating your home – cavity wall, floor, and loft insulation This autumn Cosy Homes Oxfordshire held a series of fortnightly online webinars exploring topics relating to home retrofit and energy efficiency. In this final webinar of the

A guide to using air source or ground source heat pumps as a low carbon home heating system This autumn Cosy Homes Oxfordshire is holding a series of fortnightly online webinars exploring topics relating to home retrofit and energy efficiency. In this third

We recently completed work on retrofitting a cottage in Hook Norton, helping the residents come off fossil fuels for their heating. In this post we’ll give a summary of the work, but you can also download the full case study. About the home This home

Today the UK government officially opened the Green Homes Grant scheme, allowing homeowners and landlords to apply for a voucher of up to £5,000 (or £10,000 for low income households) to make energy efficiency improvements to their home. Read more about the

The Green Homes Grant, launched in 2020 and now extended until March 2022, enables homeowners to access up to £5,000 to undertake certain retrofit measures. Update: published November 2020 This month the Government has confirmed that the Green Homes Grant

We can all do our bit to mitigate the effects of climate change by ensuring that our homes are as energy efficient as possible and so reduce carbon emissions.  We know that our UK housing stock is fairly old and inefficient, accounting for an estimated

An introduction to Cosy Homes Oxfordshire – plus information on the upcoming Green Homes Grant This autumn Cosy Homes Oxfordshire is holding a series of fortnightly online webinars exploring topics relating to home retrofit and energy efficiency. In

Today the UK government announced their Green Homes Grant skills training competition, offering funding to train people up to deliver retrofit work. The Green Homes Grant skills training competition is designed to provide support to the energy efficiency and

A beginner’s guide to retrofit – the importance of tackling home energy efficiency in the climate emergency This autumn Cosy Homes Oxfordshire is holding a series of fortnightly online webinars exploring topics relating to home retrofit and energy

Russell Smith, founder and Managing Director of Retrofit Works (our retrofit delivery partner) was recently a guest on the House Planning Help podcast. He spoke about his entry into home retofit, his own home renovation and what he learnt from it, and why the

A new home is a clean slate. Whether it’s knocking down walls, ripping out kitchens, or planning an extension, it’s an opportunity to make this new house feel like your home. And whilst you’re already planning home renovations, it makes sense to get

Our focus at Cosy Homes Oxfordshire is on a whole house retrofit approach, assessing a house in its entirety with the aim of producing bespoke and comprehensive recommendations to make that home as energy efficient as possible, likely including several

Over the past year we’ve been building up our pool of trusted, local building contractors to work on home retrofit projects through Cosy Homes Oxfordshire. This has been successful and we’ve brought lots of contractors

Join us for webinars on home retrofit and energy efficiency This autumn Cosy Homes Oxfordshire will be holding a series of fortnightly online webinars exploring topics relating to home retrofit and energy efficiency. We’ve chosen these topics based on

Today the New Economics Foundation released a new report, outlining their recommendations for a nationwide home retrofit programme to tackle the climate crisis. The report describes a four year programme to retrofit 8.7 million UK homes, which would need

Once you’ve registered your home with Cosy Homes Oxfordshire and begin your home retrofit journey, the first step is a home assessment. But what can you expect to happen during this home assessment? That’s what we’ll be exploring in this blog. The first

With the growing threat of COVID-19 and in line with UK Government advice on limiting non-essential contact, we temporarily stopped our on-site Whole House Plan home assessments in March this year – but we are now able to offer these as normal. During

We’re often asked about the most common measures to have implemented on a home during retrofit to improve energy efficiency. So, we’ve created our very own interactive Cosy House to show you what some of these common measures are – as well

If you’re a tenant in a private rental property in Oxfordshire and you think the energy efficiency of your home could be improved, there are a few things you can do: Use our communications pack to encourage your landlord to contact us If you feel your

So you care about the climate emergency and want to do your bit to lower your environmental impact at home. You may have heard about home retrofits and have no idea where to begin? Fear not. In this blog, we explore the key things you should consider before

In a show of resilience towards the climate emergency, the UK government has made the commitment to become net-zero by 2050. The UK’s net-zero target would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 100% of 1990 levels, as recommended by the Committee on

A cutback on the use of non-renewable fossil fuels is an important step in tackling the climate emergency, and one actionable way to do this is through the use of renewable energy. Smart solar homes increase UK renewable energy use and can reduce the amount

Interested in retrofitting your home and wondering what the role of a Retrofit Coordinator involves?  Spending days filled with home assessment visits, tailored consultations, energy audits, and site visits, Retrofit Coordinators take a hands-on approach to

The UK has some of the oldest domestic building stock in Europe, with nearly 38% of homes dating from before 1946 according to this report by researchers at the BRE. In 2019, alongside a pledge to become net-zero by 2050, the UK government announced a £10

Do you know your biomass boilers from your solar thermal panels? Air source heat pumps from ground source heat pumps? These renewable energy heating systems provide a greener, cleaner alternative to traditional home heating systems which typically use natural

Nights are getting longer; the air is getting crisper as temperatures continue to drop. These sure signs can only mean one thing – ‘Tis the season to be cosy! As we draw closer and closer to Christmas and to the height of winter, more and more

There are several key steps towards the making of a Cosy Home. These steps form an integral part of the home retrofit service we offer here at Cosy Homes Oxfordshire. From considering smaller measures such as upgrading your heating system to whole house

On the back of recent global declarations and growing awareness around the climate emergency, it is becoming more and more apparent that saving the planet is now everybody’s responsibility.

With record-breaking protests and global declarations of a climate emergency, it has become critical that we do all we can to adapt to climate change and reduce our carbon footprint, including that of our

In the wake of the global climate emergency strikes, most of us are (or should be!) taking stock of our own personal impact on our environment.